Article 34 Case Law Flashcards
R v Royal Pharmaceutical Society
Article 34 and Article 35 are not binding on private actors, but include quasi-public bodies that e.g. regulate an industry
Commission v Ireland (Buy Irish)
Example of a distinctly applicable MEQR
1) MS cannot circumvent their obligations under Article 34 TFEU simply by relying on a private company
2) Hindrance to intra community trade can be indiect and or merely potential – no need for trade between MS to have actually been hindered as long as there is potential for this to happen
Commission v France (Spanish Strawberries)
Member state will be in breach of its obligations under article 34 where it has failed to take necessary and appropriate measures to prevent the free movement of goods being obstructed by private individuals
Held that French authorities have failed to take adequate measures certain groups of French farmers from engaging in violent campaigns directed at agricultural products from other MS such as strawberries from Spain
Geddo
Provides definition of a QR - measures which amount to a total or partial restraint of import, export or goods in transit
Examples: a ban, quota
Firma Denkavit
Example of a distinctly applicable MEQR
Importer had to produce a certificate
Commission v Ireland (Souvenirs)
Irish rules required imported jewellery that incorporate motifs that they were souvenirs from Ireland, to bear an indication of the country in which it was made and the word foreign
Held: buyers did not need to know where the particular product came from and hence the rules constituted an MEQR that violated article 34
Dassonville
Dassonville formula: ‘All trading rules enacted by member state capable of hindering intra community trade’
Facts: concerned a Belgian law which required goods bearing a designation of origin, such as Scotch Whisky, to carry a certificate of origin issued by the government of the state in which the goods were produced in order to prove the designation’s authenticity
Held: the requirement to obtain certificates of origin for imported goods was an MEQR as the certificates could only be obtained with great difficulty if the goods were not imported directly from the country of origin
Cassis de Dijon
A german law which specified a requirement for fruit liquors, regardless of country of origin, to be above 25%. However, all the fruit liquor that France produced was between 15-20%. (Example of a indistinctly applicable MEQR).
Held: this was an MEQR
2 principles - Principle of mutual recognition and the rule of reason (a defence)
Commission v Italy
MEQRS are not confined to discriminatory measures and to indistinctly applicable product requirements – also consists other measures which hinders the access to the market of a member state of products originating in other member states
Mickelsson and Roos
Principle: Any measure which hinders access to the market of a member state, such as by having the potential to reduce the volume of trade between MS, may be classifiable as an MEQR and thereby
Jetskis in Sweden - Swedish law only permitted use of jet skis on certain waterways
